In 1985 Gail was asked by Conoco Oil Company/Exploration Research Division to teach a class in creating digital computer contour oil in place maps in the London UK Conoco Office.
Gail was to teach the geologist and the geophysicist how to use the CPS-1 Radian Corporation and the Zycor Mapping System Software in creating oil in place maps. CPS-1 was the common program that Conoco's other partners used in creating oil in place maps from seismic data.
We left Tulsa late at night and I think we flew direct to London with a stop in New York City. The trip over was uneventful and it was daylight when we flew over Ireland. Everything in Ireland was green. We arrived at Heathrow airport in the morning and I have never seen so many people in one place at the same time. Everyone was checking through customs and I remember seeing young women dress in plaid suits and suppose they were Scottish or Irish.
We got a taxi to our hotel which was called Churchill. Found out later it was one of the most expensive hotels in London. At that time the rooms were $135.00 per night. We had a nice room with two beds and a refrigerator and a bunch of snacks in the refrigerator. The bathroom had heated towels and a very nice bathrobe for each of us. At night the maid came in and turned down the sheets and put a piece of candy on the pillow.
Gail went off to work every day and came on back to the hotel at about five in the evening. I had a friend Shirley staying in the same hotel and she had been in London for a week or so. I got up every morning and went down to eat breakfast with Gail. They had strawberries with cream on the menu and that is what I had every morning. Shirley and I would meet every morning at about nine and we went all over London. We had paid ten dollars for a pass on all the busses and the tube and that took us everywhere we wanted to go.
Shirley and I went to Westminster and we went to Harrods and we went to see the Wallace collection of art and traveled around to see other sights. The Churchill Hotel was close to the Marble Arch and Selfridges store and also near to Oxford St.
When Shirley had to do something else I walked up and down Oxford St and looked at all the beautiful tailored clothing and the jewels and whatever else was interesting. I went to the wax museum by myself as it was close to the hotel.
A film making crew from the states were in the hotel and we saw Meryl Steep come in one day. I sat in the lobby once in a while and watched the people. The hotel was filled with rich people from India and from the mid-east. The men from the mid-east would sit and watch every good looking woman come in.
I stayed in the room sometimes and watched TV and the small children would be running up and down the halls and screaming. Their parents did not pay much attention to them.
Shirley and I went to the west side one day and that was where there were open-air cafes. The women from the middle east were dressed in their colorful clothing and were having the best time drinking tea and laughing with their friends.
We were in London from July 5 through the 19th. The second-weekend Gail and I decided to take a train up to York. We went down to the train station and stood in line with other people until it was time to board the train. I had made reservations at the hotel for a room at York that night. The countryside was green and we could see the power stations dotting the land. We got off the train at York and went to our room and then downstairs to eat a typical English meal. Not like food in the states and very bland. The next morning we got up and walked uptown and saw some interesting old buildings.
Gail was not feeling well and so we took an earlier train back to London. There were several interesting people in our car and we managed to get a conversation going with them. There was a young woman from Denmark and so a group of us talked on the way back to London. The British people are very quiet and of course, they knew we were Americans. They remarked to us that Americans were open people, but we all had a good time.
Gail and I went shopping at Harrod’s and she bought a pair of riding boots and I think I bought two pieces of fabric. It was Liberty of London fabric and I still have it.
We did go to a play with the man and his wife who had asked Gail to come over and teach the class.
The class was over and we caught a taxi to the Gatlin airport and on to New York. There was one woman on the plane from Ponca City and she had been to Italy. We arrived at John F Kennedy airport in New York and changed planes and on to Tulsa. Picked up the car and Gail was tired out so I drove on home to Ponca City.. Quite a trip
